You probably already know that for any social media or marketing to be effective, you’ve got to build your audience. And as you follow more people and they follow you, more people get to know you and your business.

A top five goal our Nimble Quotes subscribers have is: Grow Twitter Audience. But how?

It’s just like in real life. Imagine you are at a business networking event, a conference, a seminar. There are hundreds or thousands of other people at the event. You know you want to meet people who can help you grow your business, who you can learn from, partner with, help out. The only thing is, you’re probably going to have to make the first move. You’ve got to approach them, introduce yourself and break the ice to get the conversation going. It is exactly like that on Twitter. Make the first move.

I know! It would be easier if the other person made the first move. Can’t they do some of the heavy lifting? I hear you. But you’re in control of your goals, your business, and believe it or not, many people appreciate someone else making the first move. So take control and be the one to do it!

Here’s what I’ve found works…

The secret formula that I’ve discovered over the years working with hundreds of clients in different industries, is that on average if you follow 100 people, anywhere from 15 to 40 people will follow you back.

That adds up very quickly.

Here’s how you can get started:

Follow people you already know from your email or other contact lists.

Look for people on Twitter that have content you are interested in, are in the same location or may be a good potential client and follow them.

Follow back people who follow you.

It’s that simple.

Why not put the formula to the test today on your own Twitter account? Your target is to follow 100 people in the next few days.

Hit reply and leave me a comment to let me know what happens.

Love inspirational quotes? Want them as part of the content you post on social media without the hours it takes searching for inspirational quotes? Be human and authentic without having to share personal details…add inspirational quotes to your Twitter content as if you’ve Tweeted them yourself. Nimble Quotes does this all for you. Try it today for free, if you like the service after the trial, it’s only $99/year (less than 30 cents a day!). Sign up today!

Inspirational quotes are such lovely things. They can lift us up, can inspire us to keep going, can impart wisdom with a sentence or two.

What is really neat though, is the story behind the quote – about the person. Who were they? Who are they? Why did they write or say the quote that we consider inspirational? Sometimes, the story about the person behind the quote is so much more interesting or inspiring than the quote itself.

The quote featured today is:

“Kindness is the ability to love people more than they deserve.” – Joseph Joubert.

Interestingly, he didn’t publish anything while he was alive. Isn’t it amazing that someone could do so much work during his lifetime and yet not share it with the public? What would make someone create yet not promote their own work? What do you think?

It could have been that he was kept busy with his day job. He taught at the college-level. Later, he was appointed as the inspector-general of universities under Napoleon. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy job doing anything that was appointed by Napoleon!

He alternated between living in Paris with his friends and living in the French countryside alone. While in Paris, he became friends with another writer who also happened to be a diplomat. His name was Chateaubriand.

So how did his writing become available to the public? After his death, his widow entrusted Chateaubriand with Joseph’s writings. But it seemed to take Chateaubriand a while to get around to do anything with his friend’s writing.

It was a whole fourteen years after Joseph Joubert passed away that Chateaubriand finally published a selection titled, Recueil des pensées de M. Joubert (Collected Thoughts of Mr. Joubert). Then, more complete editions were to follow, as were collections of Joubert’s correspondence.

Love inspirational quotes? Want them as part of the content you post on social media without the hours it takes searching for inspirational quotes? Be human and authentic without having to share personal details…add inspirational quotes to your Twitter content as if you’ve Tweeted them yourself. Nimble Quotes does this all for you. Try it today for free, if you like the service after the trial, it’s only $99/year (less than 30 cents a day!). Sign up today!

Did you know that there are over 330 million Twitter users and that on average, 6,000 Tweets are tweeted per second? (That’s about a billion Tweets every two days, in case you were trying to do that math in your head.)

With that kind of volume, Twitter can be a great way to build awareness and increase business for your company.

I’m Jen Kelly creator of Nimble Quotes™, the 10,000 quote subscription service that posts inspirational quotes to your Twitter feed as if you’ve tweeted them yourself.

The thing is, quotes alone won’t do all the work for you but if they fit with your brand, they are a great part of any Twitter content strategy.

I get a lot of questions from my Nimble Quotes™ community about how to get the most out of using Twitter, like:

How do I get more followers?

What should I post?

How do I stand out from everyone else on Twitter?

How do I start a conversation with people on Twitter?

The thing is, you can start using Twitter today. You don’t need anyone to approve your friend request like on Facebook, or approve your request to be part of someone’s business network like on LinkedIn. Twitter doesn’t have the gatekeeper problem.

I think of Twitter as a giant open-air office where you are allowed and quite frankly, welcome, to drop by anyone’s desk to see what they are doing. You don’t have to be invited, but you do have to be respectful.

Think of what this opportunity can do for you! Want to get in touch with a journalist who covers your industry? Start following them on Twitter. Want to collaborate with companies in a different city than you are in? Start following them on Twitter. See what I mean by “dropping by their desk”?

To share more of what I’ve learned and what I think many people are missing about Twitter, I’ve decided to pull together some of my best insider marketing secrets, that I’ve learned to help you get the most out of Twitter and Nimble Quotes™.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of my best tips, tools and insights that will help you get your message out to more people and grow your business.

Watch the short video below and discover why I love Twitter so much and how you can use it to make a big impact on your own business.

4 Quotes to Inspire the Busy Entrepreneur to take a Holiday

Summer’s coming, and who doesn’t love getting away for some fun and sun? While camping trips, cottaging or beach vacations are the highlights of many summer adventures, busy entrepreneurs often find it difficult to drag themselves away from work for some much-needed downtime. As much as we all appreciate your dedicated work ethic, we can’t stress enough how important it is to disconnect from time to time. A holiday can aid in reducing stress and anxiety, help clear your mind and allow new ideas to flow. By allowing yourself a vacation from work, you’ll actually improve your efficiency when you return!

It’s time to stop making excuses and start making time for yourself!

We know entrepreneurs love finding inspiration and motivation in quotes, so we’ve compiled a list to help you tear yourself away from the office and take a well-deserved break.

“The world is full of travellers.Once in a year go to someplace you have never been before. You will meet Confused seekers, Hopeful wanderers, Enthusiastic story-tellers, Happy families.Look into their eyes and stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead any moment. Look at the world. It’s more beautiful than any dream you’d have ever seen.Make the most beautiful travel diary and open it up to your third generation because only your grandchildren will understand what your children will fail to.” ― Ranjani Ramachandran

Although our businesses are extremely important to us as entrepreneurs, there is more to life than just work. Be sure to open your eyes and take it all in.

“Reaching the top requires taking a good break every time you need it! On the way up, you must never hesitate to stop for a while!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Don’t burn yourself out trying to reach the top, enjoy the journey to success.

“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” ― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

If you really can’t manage to take a full vacation, at least give yourself one day of relaxation and rejuvenation.

Quotes are meant to inspire, so hopefully, we’ve inspired your inner traveller to get out there and enjoy the summer. Remember:

Jen Kelly is a marketing consultant in Toronto, owner of Nimble Quotes and CEO of New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) serving growing businesses in Canada and the USA. NIM is the team to call for marketing execution excellence.

Great Quotes from Surprising Sources

What makes a great quote? It seems that it has little to do with who said it and more to do with how relatable it is to people in general. Want proof? Check out these quotes and see if you can guess who might have said them. (Answers at the end)

“When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.”

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible’.”

“A lot of people give up just before they’re about to make it. You know you never know when that next obstacle is going to be the last one.”

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

“Never a failure, always a lesson.”

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

“The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.”

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

How did you do?

Ellen DeGeneres

Albert Einstein

Audrey Hepburn

Chuck Norris

Wayne Gretzky

Rihanna

Dolly Parton

Walt Disney

Christopher Reeve

Dr Seuss

Life is a continuous journey of learning. Quotes help us remember important advice and social media offers the chance to share our wisdom with those we love.

Quotes are great little tidbits of life lessons. They keep us thinking, laughing, questioning, striving, and sometimes even crying, but they connect us to ourselves and to each other.

We use and share quotes for many different reasons, whether it be inspiration, motivation or simply just conversation. As we found out, amazing quotes can come from unexpected sources. Have you ever said something and thought, “Hey, that would make a great quote!”?

If so, I’d love it if you click the comment button and share some of your personal wisdom with us! If you don’t think you’ve ever said anything quote-worthy, I encourage you to listen more closely, because I bet you have.

Jen Kelly is a marketing consultant in Toronto, owner of Nimble Quotes and CEO of New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) serving growing businesses in Canada and the USA. NIM is the team to call for marketing execution excellence.